Association between the Severity of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and the Risk of Coronary Artery Calcification

• Main Authors: Chien-Chih Chen, Wei-Chien Hsu, Han-Ming Wu, Jiun-Yi Wang, Pei-Yu Yang, I-Ching Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Medicina
• Subjects: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; coronary artery calcification; subclinical atherosclerosis; cardiac multidetector computed tomography
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/57/8/807
• ISSN: 1010-660X; 1648-9144

<i>Background and Objectives</i>: There are limited data on the association between severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and coronary artery calcification. This study investigated sonographic diagnosed NAFLD and coronary artery calcium score (CAC) as detected by cardiac multidetector computed tomography in general populations. <i>Materials and Methods</i>: A total of 545 patients were enrolled in this study. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography examination and CAC score were evaluated by cardiac multidetector computed tomography. The association between NAFLD and artery calcium score stage was determined by logistic regression analysis and Spearman correlation coefficient analysis. <i>Results</i>: Of all the participants, 437 (80.2%) had ultrasonography-diagnosed NAFLD and 242 (44%) had coronary artery calcification (CAC > 0). After adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, the risk of developing coronary artery calcification was 1.36-fold greater in the patients with different severity of NAFLD compared to those without NAFLD (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.07–1.77, <i>p</i> = 0.016). The highest OR for separate coronary artery calcification was 1.98 (OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.37–2.87, <i>p</i> < 0.001) in the left main artery, and the risk was still 1.71-fold greater after adjustments (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.16–2.54, <i>p</i> = 0.007). <i>Conclusions</i>: This cross-sectional study demonstrated that the severity of NAFLD was associated with the presence of significant coronary artery calcification, especially in the left main coronary artery, suggesting increasing the cardiovascular risk.